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Rangefinders

jefftk

jefftk

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Any suggestions for a good rangefinder?

I've tried one of the following that someone had, and it seemed like a very solid and compact design:
Leopold RX-1000i
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/13...rangefinder-1000-yard-true-ballistic-range-6x

But, if I'm being honest with myself I will be using it mainly for bowhunting/archery so I would probably be fine with something with less range.

Does anyone have any experience with some less expensive models in the $100 - $200 range - perhaps from Simmons, Bushnell, Nikon etc?
 
Just hopping on for interest. One to use for both shooting & golf.
 
I have a Nikon Prostaff 550 in camo that I got for $180 four years ago. use it primarily for archery.

pros
- light weight.
- fast acquisition, will sometimes pick up grass in the fore ground that I dont see.
- much better than the low end $100 units from Bushnell, Cabelas, etc

cons
- Takes a CR-2 lithium battery. expensive unless you get on ebay.
- I can't leave the battery in it between hunts w/o it draining.
- battery cover is not that good. read stories about people loosing them. I have a piece of electrical tape over it
- the 4x power of the viewfinder can be a pain when trying to find something at 30 yds.
 
I bought the Wild game innovations Halo XRT for about $80+... I see it is on AMAZON now for $90+

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009D69B9I/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I use it for bow... Haven't taken it with me for golf. Its no frills, but it works.

ETA:

Pros:
If you loose/break it you can replace it for the price of the more expensive ones.
Cheap(er) model - less to screw around with.
6x - enough magnification for most of my applications.

Cons:
Comes w/ a cheapo leather case & wrist strap that you'll likely replace.
No incline/decline distance adjustment/correction.
 
Last edited:
I have a Bushnell 450, bought it years ago just as the arc revolution was taking over. I couldn't justify spending another 200 bucks because of the arc feature. I know they're a hell of a lot cheaper now then they were then. Mine has worked perfect.
 
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Jk lol .
 
Nikon Archer's Choice. No issues. Some complain about the illumination washing out the view at times. Hasn't bothered me. I wanted one with decent resolution (yardage increments) over distance, for better accuracy at close range.
 
Looks like the Nikon Archers Choice is discontinued and the new version is Nikon Arrow ID 5000 which is about $300 on amazon.

Right now I'm leaning towards the Bushnell "The Truth ARC", which I see on Amazon for $175.
There is also a Bushnell ARC with "Clearshot" for about $240, but the clearshot feature seems like a little much/gimmicky. (It supposedly will tell you if the trajectory of your arrow will have a clear shot).

The angle compensation / true horizontal distance does seem like a nice feature to have though.
 
jefftk said:
The angle compensation / true horizontal distance does seem like a nice feature to have though.
Click to expand...

if your shots are going to be under 20 yds the arc does not matter that much. I find that longer shots have more branches/twigs in the way. Aim a few inches low and it will compensate for the angle and a deer jumping the string.
 
I have a Bushnell Yardage Pro Sport that I picked up two years ago for about 150. It does not have the ARC stuff in it, just never felt I would need it so I did not get one that had it.
 
I just picked up the Nikon Prostaff 7 and love it. Picks up the flag on the golf course and you can turn the ARC adjustment on and off as you wish.
 
I ended up getting the Bushnell Truth ARC
http://www.amazon.com/Bushnell-Prim...1411652205&sr=8-1&keywords=bushnell+truth+arc

The major drawback, in comparison to the Leupold RX at least, is the display is an LCD and does not have a backlight, so it would be difficult to read in low light. The Leupold has a nice bright red OLED display which is significantly easier to read. I figure I should have most shooting lanes ranged out well before seeing a deer anyways so I'm not too concerned about that.

One other major functional difference is that the leupold constantly ranges as you hold down the button and point it, the Bushnell ranges once when you hit the button and keeps that range if you hold it down.

And yes, as others have mentioned for ranges around 20 - 30 yards, the angle compensation does matter that much. With some basic trig you can see for a tree stand height of 20ft it would only make a difference of a couple yards.... so definitely not too critical for bowhunting, I still think its a neat feature though....
 
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